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North Huskies vs Bosse Bulldogs - at Enlow Field Sep 27 2013

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Game Recap

LAST SECOND KICK FAILS TO SAVE HUSKIES IN 47-45 LOSS TO BOSSE

A brilliant fourth quarter comeback attempt by the North Huskies missed by the narrowest of margins in a 47-45 loss to Bosse Friday night.   Battling back from two touchdown deficits in the first, second, and third quarters, the Huskies drove to the Bosse 28 in the game’s waning seconds.  A 45 yard field goal attempt had more than enough length but just narrowly slipped past the left upright and allowed the Bulldogs to escape with a two point victory.

MISTAKES HAPPEN

North dug an early hole for itself by committing turnovers.  A fumble on the first play from scrimmage gave Bosse the ball at the North 30.  A blown coverage resulted in a 30 yard Bulldog touchdown pass on the very next play.

North’s next possession drove straight down the field on the legs of junior Ford Johnson.  The agile tailback carried three straight plays and gained thirteen or more yards on all three carries as the Huskies drove to the one yard line.  North turned the ball over with a fumble on first and goal.

ANOTHER NEW FORMATION

Each week seems to feature another new facet for the offense.   Against Bosse, that new wrinkle was a double-wingback set with the quarterback under center and a single fullback behind him.

It worked well.

Incredibly well.

The talent set among the skill position players seems to fit this new formation perfectly.  Utilizing Ford Johnson at one wingback position and junior Chase Whitler at the other, the offense is able to get misdirection counter plays, sweeps, reverses, and motion plays started that use the defense’s tendencies against them.

The double wing formation accounted for 90% of North’s offensive plays on Friday night.  Before the game was over, the Huskies would use the formation to generate the Sixth Most rushing yards in a single game in school history.  It would generate the Third Most rushing touchdowns in a single game in school history.

And when the defense forced a three-and-out and North took over the ball again at midfield, the double wing formation began a string of SEVEN CONSECUTIVE possessions in which it would generate a RUSHING TOUCHDOWN.  In just six plays, the Huskies churned up the fifty yards to pay-dirt and Chase Whitler took a counter trap play into the end zone.  North had tied the score at 7 and looked to have overcome its early mistakes.

BOSSE HAS WEAPONS, TOO

The Bulldogs have talent on offense.  They are blessed with the most highly touted running back in southern Indiana.  They have a pair of fast, multi-talented receivers who can catch and run with the ball.  And, unlike past versions of the Bulldogs, they have a strong-armed, mobile quarterback who can extend plays with his feet and find targets far down the field.

They relied on all four of those players in their next possession as they overcame a first down thrown-for-loss tackle by junior Cody Smith, converted a fourth down and two at midfield, and then threw downfield blogs that sprung their tailback for a 38 yard touchdown to regain the lead.

ANOTHER MISTAKE LEADS TO A BOSSE SCORE

North fumbled the ensuing kickoff and four plays later, Bosse’s quarterback tossed a 17 yard touchdown pass to put them up by two touchdowns at 21-7.  The fumble proved to be North’s final turnover of the game, but the issue of mistakes made in the defensive backfield and mistakes made in the front seven by failing to wrap up runners when tackling would plague the Huskies throughout the game.

SECOND QUARTER FIREWORKS

Despite trailing by 14 points, the Husky offense refused to be fazed by the scoreboard.  As the game moved to the second quarter, North extended its string of games with an 11 play (or longer) scoring drive to FIVE.  When a lineman “false started” on third and short, it threatened to stall the drive, but quarterback Jesse Millikan’s “quick snap” sneak play on fourth down kept the drive alive with a first down at the Bosse 30.  Three plays later Millikan went ten yards on an option keeper to the right side to pull North back within a touchdown at 21-14.

BOSSE CAN RUN, TOO

The Bulldogs fell back on their best player on their only productive drive of the second quarter.  Their acclaimed tailback carried the ball on five of their next seven plays as they marched downfield.  He scored his second touchdown of the game with a run from the 19 yard line after it appeared he would be tackled for loss in the backfield.  Bosse converted the kick for the extra point and led 28-14 with 5:03 to play in the half.

JOHNSON BREAKS THE 100 YARD MARK—IN THE FIRST HALF!

For the last 21 years, North has had a continuous string of seasons with at least one game in which a running back has gained 100 yards rushing or more.   The most iconic symbol of North football dating back to the school’s earliest days is a speedy green-and-white clad tailback dashing down the sidelines for a touchdown.  Names like Madriaga, Atherton, Garrett, Cooper, Bushrod, O’Donnell, and Howell echo through the decades.

Every North team since the winless ball club of 1991 has produced at least one 100 yard rusher.  Through five games, the 2013 version of the Huskies did not have one.

Ford Johnson broke the barrier before halftime Friday night.

Following the Bosse score to make it 28-14, North took over at their 25 and the double wing offense lifted off again.  Fullback Mason Jenkins slammed up the middle three times on the drive for a total of 22 yards.  Millikan ran the option for ten more yards.  Chase Whitler ran his second counter play of the half back up the middle for 21 additional yards. 

And when Johnson took a similar counter 22 yards “to the House”, it marked his ninth carry of the game for 119 yards in just the first half of play.  While Bosse could boast the “Most Acclaimed” tailback in southern Indiana, Johnson was matching the more heralded runner stride for stride at intermission.

A bad snap on the extra point denied North an attempt at the kick and the Huskies went into the locker room trailing 28-20.

SECOND HALF BLITZES

The Huskies emerged from the intermission with a changed defensive philosophy.  They immediately moved to a five man front on defense with sophomore Trevor McDowell at nose tackle.  Safety and corner blitz packages began to show up in the defensive schemes.   On individual plays, the changes seemed to meet the desired effect.  Taken as a whole, nothing could make up for poor technique on tackling.  Occasionally, a lineman would break through and throw a back for loss.  Just as often, however, a staggered Bulldog runner would fail to fall, recover his balance, and spring for a ten yard gain.

As witness to this evaluation, on Bosse’s first possession of the second half, they ran ten plays.  On three of those plays the runner was dropped for a loss behind the line of scrimmage.  On two of those plays, the quarterback was under such pressure that his passes were tossed incomplete to avoid a sack.  On the other five plays, however, the Bulldogs converted a fourth down, a third down, and had four plays that were 14 yards or longer in length.  At the end of the drive, Bosse scored on a reverse and led 34-20.  The loan bright spot occurred when junior Zac Turi provided a blocked kick on the extra-point.

WHITLER EMERGES

Ford Johnson continued his heroics with a 40 yard kickoff return to get the offense into great field position.  The offense got a further lift when Bosse committed what would become an epidemic (for them) of personal fouls and in three plays had the ball at the 25.

Chase Whitler has been North’s most explosive player on offense to date this season.  After leading the team in receiving in 2012, his unique blend of speed and shiftiness has resulted in routine long-gains whenever he gets the ball.  The problem seems to be in getting him the ball in 2013.  Opponent defenses are geared to denying him receptions.

The double wing formation brings him closer to the backfield and his proximity to the ball proved itself in the first half when he touched the ball twice and produced a first down and a touchdown.  In the second half, he would touch the ball six times on four runs and two receptions.  Those six touches would produce two more touchdowns and four more first downs.  Eight touches in the game resulted in three TD’s and five first downs.

The second of those touchdowns came from the 25 yard line on a nifty piece of running that zigged and zagged through the Bosse secondary and pulled the Huskies back within 8 points at 34-26.

Whether by design or by accident, North attempted a two-point conversion pass that was thrown in the vicinity of one Husky and five Bulldogs.  The net affect was no points.

GAMBIT FAILS

North then executed an onside kick that “almost” went 10 yards before being touched by a North player.  A flag was thrown for illegal touching and Bosse was awarded the ball curiously at the spot at which North had recovered it on the Bosse 48 yard line.   If Illegal Touching was the call, it should have been awarded to Bosse at the spot at which the touching occurred.  North touching the ball at the 48 of Bosse would have been “legal” touching.

Regardless, Bosse made ‘short order’ of the short field when a play-action fake pitch caused two North defenders to ‘check-up’ in their coverage of a Bulldog receiver.  The quarterback then threw the ball to a receiver who had continued to run downfield and Bosse again led by two scores at 40-26.

BOSSE CONTRIBUTES

North’s string of consecutive possessions with a TD continued when Bosse committed two more personal fouls on the next Husky drive.  Sandwiched in between the two 15 yard penalties was a Millikan 26 yard carry on an option around right end.  Lined up at the 11 with a first down, it fell to Whitler to tote-the-rock on a sweep for his 3^rd score of the game.

A bad handle on the kick would result in the third consecutive unsuccessful opportunity for extra points.  It would get worse before it got better and in a game decided by just two points, the inability to execute on special teams would prove terminal to North’s chances.  North trailed 40-32.  The three failed extra point opportunities would have pulled them within a single score had they been successful kicks.

A LONG TOSS AND A HAMMER

The defense managed to stop the Bulldogs and a gamble by Bosse to “go for it” on fourth and short resulted in excellent field position for North.  Millikan somehow managed to heave a deep throw downfield while under a heavy rush on second down and a streaking Whitler had to double back for the pass in order to catch it.  The Bulldog defenders were able to catch up to him because he had to come back for the ball, but the long toss was worth a 35 yard gain and a first down at the eight yard line.

The offensive line went to work on an obviously tiring Bosse front four.  Three straight running plays from the I formation by Ford Johnson resulted in North scoring on the first play of the fourth quarter from the one yard line.

With North trailing by just two points at 40-38, the Huskies attempted to tie the score, but for the fourth consecutive time, they came up short.

ONE BLITZ TOO MANY

North’s second half strategy of blitzing paid dividends on the Bulldogs first two plays.  Junior Buddy Waelde tossed the Bulldog tailback for a four yard loss on first down.  Fellow junior Ryan Wargel blitzed through the line and dropped the Bosse quarterback for a loss on second down.

Bosse faced third-and-seventeen at their 40 yard line.  Momentum was decidedly in North’s favor at this point.  Trailing by two with 10 minutes to play and having scored on six consecutive possessions, North’s line looked to be running “downhill” on offense.  One last defensive stand might have proven to be the final piece that would allow North to overcome its many mistakes and still come away victorious.

If the Bosse line was winded, their backs and receivers remained in possession of their speed.  When North blitzed both linebackers on third down, it was into the face of a “screen” play called by the Bulldog sidelines.  A “screen” play uses the momentum of the defensive players against them.  It typically will only work for a big gain when the defense is blitzing.

North blitzed, the Bosse line lured the defenders in, and the quarterback zipped a short throw between them to an open receiver just behind the blitzing linebackers.  North defenders tried to recover, but the foot race was on and the Bulldog runner was too fast.  Sixty yards and an extra-point kick later, Bosse led 47-38 with 10:14 to play.

BUTLER BRINGS FRESH LEGS

Senior Maalik Butler entered the game with “fresh legs” when North returned to the field.  Lining up as the deep back in the “I” formation, Butler busted loose of a blitzing linebacker on his first run and followed the blocks of Waelde and tackle Cody Smith for a 7 yard gain.  Yet another Bosse personal foul added 15 yards to the run and North had a first down at the Bulldog 34.

Junior Riley Draper sealed off the end on second down and fullback Ryan Wargel hammered the linebacker as Butler dashed around the corner and turned up field on an 11 yard gain.  The next play saw sophomore Bryce Brown and Draper split a hole in the Bosse defense and Wargel nailed the linebacker with a ferocious block.  Butler again streaked through the hole and into the Bosse secondary for a 10 yard gain.  Brown, Draper, and Wargel repeated their efforts on first down at the 13 and Butler slammed his way to the 7.

Three plays later it fell to Millikan to follow the surge by Waelde and Brown and force his way into the end zone.  North trailed 47-44 with nearly seven minutes to play.  A high snap on the extra point attempt was pulled down by holder Jayden Beshears and Zac Turi sailed it between the uprights.  North had its first successful extra point in five chances and trailed by just two at 47-45.

BOSSE RUNS THE CLOCK

Time is a precious element.  Bosse understood the scarcity.  Despite their lead, they understood that their lines were tiring and momentum was on the side of the Huskies.  The last ten minutes of game time had produced just one play longer than two yards for them.  They understood that eating up time was just as important to them as execution on the field.

They ran the clock well.  Runners stayed in bounds, only short passes were thrown, and they managed to gain a single first down while they ate up nearly five full minutes of play.  When Beshears tackled a receiver for a loss on a pass play on third-and-six, it was just the sixth play of the drive.  But there were just two minutes left on the clock when North got the ball back after the ensuing punt.

WIDE LEFT

North squeezed 11 plays into the final two minutes.  A mixture of six runs and four passes moved the ball to the Bosse 28 with six seconds left on the clock.  Turi was brought in to attempt a field goal from the 35 yard line.  He had been successful from that distance earlier in the season. 

The snap was perfect, the hold was on the money, and the kick had plenty of distance.  It landed halfway across the track behind the goal post.  The kick was so close to going through the uprights that half the North stands began celebrating a come-from-behind victory.

Not the kicker.

He stood at midfield.  He expected to make the kick.  Disbelief showed in his face.  Confidence is a great trait in a kicker.  He studied his effort in the immediacy of the moment, realigned the kick in his head, and determined his adjustments.  He will learn from that effort and win a game for North in the future with his leg.

On this night, his kick went wide left by the smallest of margins and Bosse ended its 16 year drought against North.

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